On the surface, NeighborLink Indianapolis has a simple mission: to help low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities who own their own homes – age in place safely and with dignity. How is this accomplished? By providing home repairs at no cost to the homeowner.
It is a simple mission with a simple task. But upon a deeper look, the long-term impact of NeighborLink is much greater than simple, one-off home repairs. For senior citizen households on fixed incomes, an essential home repair can create an impact that not only solves an immediate problem but can also sustain generation wealth, provide household protection, and secure many of the negative outcomes of gentrification.
One of the critical domains of the Social Determinants of Health is safe housing. Safe and secure housing provides household stability, wealth security, and opportunity for future generational wealth. It comes as no surprise to most people that due to the current economic climate and our city-wide housing shortage, fixed-income senior households are viewed as “easy targets” for cash-buyers, wholesalers, and developers. Many fixed-income senior households find themselves in vulnerable financial positions. In many cases, these households are one emergency repair away from succumbing to the pressure of selling their homes at a below market value in order to avoid a potential debt spiral. For many seniors, their primary residence is the only secure, appreciating asset they have in their portfolio. NeighborLink provides a pathway to not only safely aging in place but also to secure the safety and livability of these assets for future family generations.
The seemingly unavoidable gentrification of Indianapolis’ neighborhoods brings about changes that many (if not a majority) of local residents view as positive: enhanced accessibility, restored walkability, commercial corridor revitalization – to name a few. But what is often lost in this process? Neighborhood diversity, inter-generational presence, neighborhood culture, and ultimately the displacement of families and households who have been present and participatory (for decades) in the story of a community.
84% of the households served by NeighborLink are households of color, and 80% of the households served are owned by women. By providing free home repairs, NeighborLink Indianapolis is helping minority homeowners, who against all odds, bought a home decades ago!
Is one organization solving all of these challenges? Certainly not. But the crisis of housing affordability and aging in place is certainly the need of the hour. 20% of ALL Hoosiers will be 65 or older by 2030; and 90% of today’s households want to age in place within the comfort of their own homes. Free home repairs for seniors who fall below the poverty line helps to sustain generation wealth for the vulnerable, provides household safety, and secures many of the negative outcomes of gentrification. Imagine if our neighborhoods remained diverse, intergenerational, and equitable!
